Method and system for filming

ABSTRACT

This invention concerns a method of filming a subject to be projected as a Pepper&#39;s Ghost image. The method may comprise filming a subject under a lighting arrangement having one or more front lights for illuminating a front of a subject and one or more backlights. The lights may be controlled such that the total brightness of the one or more front lights, as measured of the subject, is less than or approximately the same as the total brightness of the one or more backlights, as measured at the subject. The subject may be located directly above one or more floor lights such the subject is illuminated from below by the one or more floor lights.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the reproduction of the patent document or the patentdisclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patentfile or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/436,992 filed Jun. 11, 2019 entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FILMING”,which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/690,639filed Apr. 20, 2015, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FILMING”, now U.S.Pat. No. 10,317,778, which is a continuation application of U.S.application Ser. No. 13/054,384, filed on Mar. 7, 2011, entitled “METHODAND SYSTEM FOR FILMING,” now U.S. Pat. No. 9,033,522, which is anational stage entry of “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FILMING,” having serialnumber PCT/GB2009/050849, filed on Jul. 14, 2009, which claims priorityto and the benefit of GB Application No. 0910117.1, filing dated 12 Jun.2009, GB Application No. 0818862.5, filing date 15 Oct. 2008, and U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/080,411, filing date Jul. 14, 2008, thedisclosures of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein intheir entireties.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING OR COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to a method and system forfilming a subject to be projected as a Pepper's Ghost image and, inparticular, but not exclusively, a method of lighting a subject, inparticular a person, being filmed for projection as a Pepper's ghostimage in a Pepper's Ghost system, for example the Pepper's Ghost systemas described in WO2007052005.

Conventionally, the lighting arrangement for filming of a person,particularly for an interview or presentation, is based on the threepoint lighting method. In such a method, the person being filmed is litby a key light, which shines directly upon the front of the subject andserves as the principal illuminator, a fill light, which also shines onthe front of the subject and balances the key light by illuminatingshaded surfaces to reduce chiaroscuro effects and a back light, whichilluminates the subject from behind to create a rim of light around thesubject that separates the subject from the background. Typically, thekey light and fill light are placed at 45 degrees to the line from thecamera to the subject (and at 90 degrees to each other), the fill lightbeing approximately half the brightness of the key light. A totalbrightness of the back light is significantly less that a totalbrightness of the front lighting provided by the key and fill lights.

It has been found that the use of such lighting arrangements for thefilming of subjects to be projected as a Pepper's Ghost image results ina Pepper's Ghost image that looks flat or “cut-out”, detracting from animpression of realism created by the Pepper's Ghost image.

Furthermore, to avoid the appearance of a translucent Pepper's Ghostimage it is necessary to light the subject of the Pepper's Ghost imagevery brightly. However, the use of very bright lights to light thesubject can result in subtle shadows on the subject that add to therealism of the Pepper's Ghost image being lost.

Traditionally, film lighting has been provided by incandescent lampssuch as tungsten lamps. Such lamps can consume significant electricalpower and generate excessive heat and as such are not particularly wellsuited to studio environments, especially in smaller/mobile studioenvironments.

BRIEF SUMMARY

This Brief Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a method offilming a subject to be projected as a Pepper's Ghost image, the methodcomprising filming the subject under a lighting arrangement having oneof more front lights for illuminating a front of the subject and one ormore back lights, wherein the lights are controlled such that the totalbrightness of the one or more front lights, as measured at the subject,is less than or approximately the same as the total brightness of theone or more back lights, as measured at the subject.

For the purposes of this specification the term “back lights” includeslights to illuminate the rear and/or side of the subject. The term “sidelights” is used to refer to lights that illuminate the side of thesubject and the term “rear lights” is used for lights used to illuminatethe rear of the subject.

It will be understood that the term “front of the subject” refers to theside of the subject facing towards a camera and the term “rear of thesubject” refers to the side of the subject facing away from the camera.In most cases, the front of the subject will include the face of thesubject as in some embodiments it is important that the subjectmaintains eye contact with the camera, but the invention is not limitedto the front of the subject including the face of the subject.

By increasing the brightness of the back lighting relative to the frontlighting, the projected Pepper's Ghost image appears to be more roundedand to have greater depth than images created from filming a subjectusing conventional three point lighting methods. In particular, aPepper's Ghost image is created by projecting the image onto asemi-transparent screen, such as a semi-transparent foil, placed at 45degrees to the projector and an audience's eye line such that theaudience perceives the image as a “ghost” in the backdrop behind thescreen. However, the semi-transparent screen only reflects a proportionof the light of the projected image, which often results in an imagefilmed using conventional lighting arrangements appearing darker thanthe backdrop. The invention overcomes this problem by utilizing thepsychological effect that an object will appear brighter if contrastedwith something that is less bright. In the invention, by having thefront light less bright or of approximately the same brightness than theback light, the edges of the subject will appear disproportionatelybrighter, which is believed to make the image appear more rounded and tohave greater depth. Furthermore, the shadows of the subject are moreevident as they are not washed out by a bright front light.

It will be understood that in one embodiment the term “approximately thesame brightness” means that the total brightness of the back lights tothe total brightness of the front lights is more than 2:3 and morepreferably, more than 3:4. That is the total brightness of the backlights can be less than the total brightness of the front lights andstill provide advantages over the prior art as long as the brightness ofthe front lights is less than 150% of the brightness of the back lights.These advantages generally increase as the ratio of the brightness ofthe front lights to the brightness of the back lights decreases, forexample the brightness of the front lights is preferably less than orequal to 120% of the back lights, more preferably less than 110% of theback lights and even more preferably less than or equal to 100% of theback lights.

The total brightness of the one or more front lights may be less thanthe total brightness of the one or more back lights.

The lighting arrangement may further comprise one or more side lightsfor illuminating a side of the subject (i.e. one or more lights atapproximately 90 degrees to a line between the camera and the subject).The one or more side lights may be for illuminating both sides of thesubject. The one or more side lights may illuminate the or each sidewith a total brightness, as measured at the subject, that is less thanthe total brightness of the one or more back lights, as measured at thesubject. The one or more side lights may illuminate the or each sidewith a total brightness that is less than the total brightness of thefront lights.

The one or more side lights may be controlled to alter in brightness asthe subject moves towards and away from the side light. In particular,the one or more side lights may be controlled to reduce the brightnessof illumination when the subject moves towards the side light and toincrease in brightness as the subject moves away from the side light.

The one or more back lights, one or more front lights and one or moreside lights may comprise different lamps for illuminating(predominately) different sections of the subject. That is, the lampsare directed/pointed at different sections of the subject.

In one embodiment, the different sections comprise vertical sections ofthe subject, for example, when the subject is a person, five verticalsections, hair, head, torso, legs and feet. For practical reasons, suchas available equipment and time, it may not be possible to illuminatethese sections and another number of vertical sections may be used, forexample three vertical sections, head, torso and legs/feet. Furthermore,if the subject is not a person but is another object, such as an animal,or the person is wearing clothes or equipment that result in the hair,head, torso, legs and/or feet being of similar colours, then othersections may be appropriate. In one embodiment, left and right sectionsmay be used. For a subject that is moving, this may require the lightsto track the subject across a stage.

The lamps may comprise predominately profile (ellipsoidal) spotlights asthese allow the illumination to by tightly controlled. Preferably,approximately 60% of the illumination is provided by profile spotlights.

The one or more front lights may comprise a profile spotlight forilluminating a head of the subject, a profile spotlight for illuminatingthe torso of the subject and/or a profile spotlight for illuminatinglegs and feet of the subject. The one or more front lights may furthercomprise a fill lamp, such as a Fresnel lamp, for illuminating thesubject from below. This fill lamp may help to fill deep shadows causedby loose fitting clothes, unbuttoned jackets, etc. The one or more frontlights may further comprise a profile spotlight for illuminating theeyes of the subject. This may be used to lift deep-set eyes without overilluminating the front of the subject.

The one or more back lights may comprise a profile spotlight forilluminating a head of the subject, a profile spotlight for illuminatingthe torso of the subject and/or a profile spotlight for illuminatinglegs and feet of the subject.

The lighting arrangement may further comprise one or more overheadlights positioned directly above the subject. Such lights can be used toincrease the brightness of a subject hair, for example when the subjecthas dark hair. The overhead lights may comprise a fluorescent lamp, suchas those provided by Kino Flo lighting systems; however, advantageouslythe one or more overhead lights comprise one or more LEDs.

The one or more front, side and back lights may be arranged toilluminate a cuboid volume such that, when the subject moveshorizontally within the cuboid volume, a nature of the illumination onthe subject remains substantially the same.

In one embodiment, the lights are controlled to match lighting effectsfor the subject being filmed to lighting effects at a location thePepper's Ghost image of the subject is projected. The lights may becontrolled to create a colour temperature matching the colourtemperature of a person/objects at the location the Pepper's Ghost imageof the subject is projected. This may be achieved by illuminating thesubject with appropriate coloured lights, for example by usingappropriate coloured gels with the lights.

It will be understood that other lighting effects for the subject may beprovided to match lighting effects at the location the Pepper's Ghostimage of the subject is projected. For example, if a highly reflectivesurface is present at the location of the Pepper's Ghost image thatcreates a characteristic light pattern, a similar or matching lightingpattern may be generated by the lights illuminating the subject.

This matching of lighting characteristics between the filmed image ofthe subject and the lighting conditions at the location the Pepper'sGhost is projected increases the realism of the Pepper's Ghost image.

In embodiments where there is a “live” projection of the subject as aPepper's Ghost image (often coined a “telepresence”), the method maycomprise controlling the lights illuminating the subject in response toa changing lighting environment at the location the Pepper's Ghost imageis projected. For example, the lighting at the location the Pepper'sGhost image is projected may change as is common in a show, such as aconcert or the like, and the method may comprise controlling the lightsilluminating the subject in response to changes in the lightingenvironment at the location the Pepper's Ghost image is projected.

It will be understood that the term “lighting environment” as usedherein means illumination at or near the location the Pepper's ghostimage is projected that is not due to the projection of the film. Forexample, lights illuminating a stage on which the Pepper's ghost appearsand reflective surfaces that cause light to fall on/near the locationthe Pepper's ghost is projected.

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a method offilming a subject to be projected as a Pepper's Ghost image, the methodcomprising filming the subject under a lighting arrangement having oneor more floor lights, wherein the subject is located directly above theone or more floor lights such that the subject is illuminated from belowby the one or more floor lights.

A possible advantage of having one or more floor lights to illuminatethe subject from below is that areas which would not be illuminated byfront, back or side lights may be illuminated. For example, theunderside of the subject's shoes or feet may be illuminated by the floorlights. By illuminating areas of the subject which would not beilluminated normally, the projection of the subject for a Pepper's Ghostappears more real. For example, if the subject lifts their feet, thefloor lights illuminate the base of the feet so that the base of theirfeet are captured on the projected film instead of the base of the feetappearing black due to a lack of illumination.

In one embodiment the one or more floor lights comprise a mask tocollimate light emitted by the one or more floor lights such that lightemitted by the one or more floor lights is not directly incident on acamera used to film the subject.

It will be understood that the term “directly” in regards thetransmittance of light from where the light is emitted to where thelight is incident means that there is a line of sight from where thelight is emitted to where the light is incident.

Inclusion of the floor lights in the Pepper's Ghost projection would bedetrimental to the realism of the Pepper's Ghost illusion. The mask maycollimate light emitted by the one or more floor lights such that asubstantial amount of the light emitted by the one or more floor lightsis directed upwardly relative to the one or more floor lights. Anadvantage of collimating the light emitted by the one of more floorlights in an upright direction is that it may prevent the floor lightfrom being in the angle of vision of the camera on which the subject isfilmed for the Pepper's Ghost. For example, the mask may comprise anopaque surface having a frustro conical shape.

In one embodiment, the one or more floor lights comprise a plurality ofindividual floor lights, wherein each of the individual floor lightscomprises a mask to collimate light emitted by each of the individualfloor lights such that a substantial amount of the light emitted by eachof the individual floor lights is directed upwardly relative to each ofthe individual floor lights. For example, the mask may comprise anopaque surface having a frustro conical shape.

An aspect of the invention provides a method of filming a subject to beprojected as a Pepper's Ghost image, the method comprising filming thesubject under a lighting arrangement having one or more lights whichcomprise one or more LEDs, wherein significant illumination of thesubject, as measured at the subject, is provided by the one or moreLEDs.

It will be understood that the term “significant illumination of thesubject” means the one or more LEDs provide at least 10% of the lightingpower incident on the subject, preferably at least 50% of the lightingpower and most preferably at least 90% of the lighting power. In oneembodiment, all of the lamps of the lighting arrangement are LED lampsand, therefore, 100% of the lighting power is produced by LED lamps.

In some embodiments there is a “live” projection of the subject as aPepper's Ghost image which is often coined a “telepresence”. The term“live” should be understood to take its conventional meaning of beingtransmitted at the time of the performance. The skilled person willunderstand that communications links may introduce some delays. Suchdelays will either be negligible or imperceivable to an audience or adelay of a few second may occur, for example in the case of a satelliterelay being used in the communication link.

The embodiment as described includes the use of low power consumptionLED “environmentally green” lighting instruments. These low profileinstruments are highly efficient and offer a number of advantages overconventional tungsten lighting making them suitable to use in smallareas such as a mobile studio. A mobile studio used for creating atelepresence is herein termed a Telepresence Booth. The characteristicsof the Telepresence booth are described in more detail in the earlierpatent application number GB 0821996.6. Most importantly the lights arerequired to work in a small space with minimum power consumption,minimal heat emission and most natural daylight looking skin temperaturewhen focused on the film subject.

LED lamps may, for example, be used as flood lamps or as spot lamps toilluminate the subject.

LED lamps consume far less power than incandescent lamps, allowing thelamps to run off battery power, and have a more stable colour shift(i.e. the colour of the light emitted by the LED lamp does notsubstantially change with changes in brightness). Furthermore, the cooltemperature operation of LED lamps negates any need for air conditioningand is less of a fire risk. Accordingly, the method may comprise notproviding air conditioning to cool the lighting arrangement.

In some embodiments the filming of a subject to be projected as aPepper's Ghost image comprises projecting a telepresence, wherein thelight output characteristics of the LEDs are controlled substantially inreal time. In such a “live” projection of the subject as a Pepper'sGhost image the method may comprise controlling the lights illuminatingthe subject in response to a changing lighting environment at thelocation the Pepper's Ghost image is projected. The use of LEDs isadvantageous for such a 25 method because LED lamps are capable of beingswitched faster than conventional incandescent lamps and can be cycledat high frequency. In some embodiments the LEDs can be dimmed usingpulse-width-modulation (PWM) or lowering of the forward current of thediodes.

In one embodiment the method of further comprises conditioning the lightemitted by the or at least one of the one or more LEDs with at least onehood or baffle fitted to at least one of the one or more LEDs. Thehood/baffle may be used to reduce/block the amount of light coming fromthe side of an LED (i.e. light that has a direction otherwise thantoward the intended subject) or otherwise reduce the divergence of thelight produced by the LEDs. Preferably, the inside surface of the hoodthrough which the light from the LEDs travel has a high lightabsorptance.

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a method offilming a subject to be projected as a Pepper's Ghost image, the methodcomprising filming the subject under a lighting arrangement having oneor more luminaires, wherein the luminaires comprise a light transmittingmember having at least one reflective surface, a plurality of LEDs, atleast one output surface and a mask for blocking light emitted by theLEDs such that the mask prevents light emitted by the LEDs from reachingthe at least one output surface directly, light emitted by the LEDsreaching the at least one output surface by reflection off the at leastone reflective surface.

In one embodiment the luminaires are arranged such that light emitted bythe LEDs is directed towards the at least one reflective surface. Themask may comprise an opaque surface located on a side of the LEDs toprevent light from reaching the at least one output surface directly.

One possible advantage of using the luminaires is that because emittedlight is reflected before exiting the luminaire, the emitted light has abrightness which is approximately uniform over all the angles in whichthe light exits the luminaire. This helps in illuminating areas of asubject with uniform brightness. For example the luminaires may have athin cube shape with two large flat surfaces and four small flatsurfaces, where the light emitted by the luminaires is directed, atleast approximately, perpendicular from one of the large flat surfaces.

Another advantage of using the luminaires is that they may have smalldimensions so that they may be used in many locations where largerconventional lights cannot fit. In one embodiment the luminaires have acubic shape with a thickness of 8 mm (0.3″) and may come in 6 basicsizes of 76 mm×76 mm (3″×3″), 76 mm×152 mm (3″×6″), 152 mm×152 mm(6″×6″), 76 mm×305 mm (3″×12″), 152 mm×305 mm (6″×12″) and 305 mm×305 mm(12″×12″) and can have any other dimensions up to a maximum size of1,220×2,440 mm (48″×96″). Alternatively shapes may range from circles tocomplex geometric shapes.

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a method offilming a subject to be projected as a Pepper's Ghost image, the methodcomprising filming the subject with a camera to produce a film, whereina shutter speed of the camera is between 1/25″ and 1/120″ of a second,preferably 1/60″ and 1/120th of a second, preferably 1/60th and 1/100thof a second, and delivering the film to a Pepper's Ghost projectionsystem. This aspect of the invention can readily be combined with otheraspects and embodiments of the invention.

It has been found that these shutter speeds sufficiently reduce motionblur without introducing stroboscopic effects, which can occur at higherspeeds.

Delivering the film may comprise sending the film immediately to aPepper's Ghost projection system, for example for a “live” performance,or delivering the film after completion, for example via any datacarrier such as an electronic signal or CD-ROM, etc.

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a film of asubject to be projected as a Pepper's Ghost image produced in accordancewith the aforementioned aspects of the invention.

According to an embodiment of the invention there is provided a methodof providing a Pepper's Ghost image comprising filming the subject inaccordance with previous aspects and embodiments of the invention andprojecting the film through a semitransparent screen positioned at anangle, preferably 45 degrees, to the projected film and an audienceeyeliner such that film images are visible to the audience superimposedon a backdrop to the screen.

The term “semitransparent” should be understood to take its normalmeaning of allowing the passage of some, but not all, incident light(i.e. partially transparent).

The method may comprise projecting the film such that the Pepper's Ghostimage of the subject appears the same height as the subject inreal-life. In one embodiment, filming comprises arranging a camera andthe subject such that the subject extends substantially across theentire height of the image captured by the camera. In particular, thesubject from head to toe may extend substantially across the entireheight of the image captured by the camera. This advantageouslyoptimizes the pixel count for the subject.

It is desirable to create a “natural” quality light to illuminate thesubject (generally a person). As this subject is captured and projectedupon a foil to give the illusion of being “real” natural looking lightthat allows for optimal realistic flesh tone rendition is important. Inthese restricted spaces the lights identified and there configurationand control produce the desired result. Their colour temperature can bedaylight (5500 degrees Kelvin) which produces outstanding results.

Optimally the Telepresence booth may be of a variety of different sizesalthough it is generally advantageous to make the booth as small aspossible whilst achieving the desired subject area and illumination ofsame for high quality image capture.

If the subject is a person, a size of an unmasked plate shot of thecamera (i.e. the size of the rectangular plane captured by the camera atthe location of the subject and perpendicular to the eyeline of thecamera) is approximately 2 m by 3.6 m. The camera can be masked toreduce the number of pixels used. This can be achieved with variouscovers, eg purpose made covers (or simply by tape).

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a lightingcontrol system for controlling a lighting arrangement, the lightingarrangement comprising one or more lamps for illuminating a subjectduring filming, a film of the subject being for projection as a Pepper'sGhost image, the lighting control system comprising an input device forreceiving inputs on characteristics of the subject to be filmed and acontroller arranged to determine from the inputs a requiredconfiguration for the lamps and send control signals to at least one ofthe lamps to cause the lamps to adjust to the required configuration.

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a data carrierhaving stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor,causes the processor to receive inputs on characteristics of a subjectto be filmed for projection as a Pepper's Ghost image, determine fromthe inputs a required configuration for lamps of a lighting arrangementfor illuminating the subject during filming and send control signals toat least one of lamps to cause the lamps to adjust to the requiredconfiguration.

In this way, the control system can automatically configure the lamps asrequired by the characteristics of the subject to be filmed, saving timeand reducing the need for an expert lighting technician.

The lighting control system may comprise memory having stored thereindata on the required configuration for the lamps for differentcharacteristics of the subject and determining the requiredconfiguration may be carried out by comparing the inputs ofcharacteristics of the subject to those stored in memory.

The characteristics of the subject may be skin colour, hair colour andcolour of the subject's clothes and shoes.

The required configuration may comprise the brightness of the lamps. Inone embodiment, in each of the required configurations, the totalbrightness of one or more front lights, as measured at the subject, maybe less than the total brightness of one or more back lights, asmeasured at the subject.

The required configuration may comprise a colour of the lamps.

The required configuration may comprise a position of the lamps. Inparticular, a required position of the lamps may be dictated by a heightof the subject, such as a height of a subject's legs, torso, head and/ortotal height.

The inputs may further comprise an input of a stylistic requirement, forexample low key lighting or high key lighting, the requiredconfiguration being determined from the input of the characteristics ofthe subject and the stylistic requirement.

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a lighting 5control system for controlling a lighting arrangement, the lightingarrangement comprising one or more lamps for illuminating a subjectduring filming, a film of the subject being for projection as a Pepper'sGhost image, the lighting control system comprising a controller forcontrolling each of the lamps to change a configuration of the lamps,the 10 controller connected to a data link providing data on a lightingenvironment at a location where the film of the subject is beingprojected as a Pepper's Ghost image, the controller sending controlsignals to each of the lamps to cause the lamps to adjust configurationduring filming in response to data on changes in the lightingenvironment.

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a data carrierhaving stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor ofa lighting control system comprising one of more lights for illuminatinga subject during filming, causes the processor to receive data on alighting environment at a location where a film of the subject is beingprojected as a Pepper's Ghost image and send control signals to eachlight to cause the lights to adjust configuration during filming inresponse to data on changes in the lighting environment.

In this way, the lights are automatically adjusted in response tochanges in the lighting environment where a “live” Pepper's Ghost imageof the subject is being projected.

The data carrier may be any one of a floppy disc, a CD-ROM/RAM, a 30 DVDROM/RAM, a Blu Ray disc, an HD DVD ROM, a tape, a hard drive, a memory(including USB memory stick, a memory card, etc.), a signal (includingan Internet download, an FTP transfer, etc), a wire or any othersuitable medium.

According to an aspect of the invention a method of filming a subject tobe projected as a Pepper's Ghost image, the method comprising filmingthe subject under a lighting arrangement having one of more first lightsfor illuminating a front of the subject and one or more second lightsfor illuminating the rear and/or side of the subject, wherein the lightsare controlled such that the total brightness of the one or more firstlights is less than or approximately the same as the total brightness ofthe one or more second lights.

A method of filming a subject to be projected as a Pepper's Ghost image,the method comprising filming the subject under a lighting arrangementhaving one of more front lights for illuminating a front of the subjectand one or more back lights for illuminating the rear of the subject,wherein the lights are controlled such that the total brightness of theone or more front lights, as measured at the subject, is less than orapproximately the same as the total brightness of the one or more backlights, as measured at the subject, and wherein the principalillumination of the subject by the lights is provided by LEDs.

The method may be carried out in a room less than 6 metres wide and/orless than 20 metres in depth. For studios that are greater than 6 metreswide and 20 metres in depth, conventional tungsten lamps can be used.

The LED lamps may be as described in US2008259600, US2006181862,EP1677143 and US2005259409.

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a method offilming a subject to be projected as a Pepper's Ghost image, the methodcomprising filming the subject in front of a back screen under alighting arrangement having one of more front lights for illuminating afront of the subject, wherein a drop-off distance of the front lights isless than a distance between the front lights and the back screen.

An advantage of using front lights which have a drop-off distance whichis less than the distance between the front lights and the back screenis that there will not be undue light incident on the back screen. Ifthere is undue light incident on the back screen, this will make theback screen appear grey and therefore reduce the contrast between thesubject and the back screen.

Numerous other objects, advantages and features of the presentdisclosure will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art upon areview of the following drawings and description of a preferredembodiment. Embodiments of the invention will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a studio setup for a lightingarrangement in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the studio setup shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the shot captured by the camera asarranged in the studio setup of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a lighting control system forautomatically adjusting the lights of the studio setup shown in FIGS. 1to 3;

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a studio setup for a first lightingarrangement in accordance with another embodiment of the invention,wherein the lighting arrangement comprises LED lamps;

FIG. 6 shows a plan of the studio setup of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of a studio setup for a second lightingarrangement in accordance with another embodiment of the invention,wherein the lighting arrangement comprises LED lamps;

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of a studio setup of FIG. 7 with thelight path illustrated from a light panel arranged to illuminate theface and upper body of a subject;

FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of a studio setup of FIG. 7 with thelight path illustrated from a light panel arranged to illuminate thedarker features of a subject;

FIG. 10 shows a perspective view of a studio setup of FIG. 7 with thelight path illustrated from a light panel arranged to illuminate thelower part of a subject;

FIG. 11 shows a perspective view of a studio setup of FIG. 7 with thelight path illustrated from a light panel arranged to illuminategenerally up to the shoulders of a subject;

FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of a studio setup of FIG. 7 with thelight path illustrated from a light panel arranged to illuminate thehead/hear and upper body of a subject;

FIG. 13 shows a perspective view of a studio setup of FIG. 7 with thelight path illustrated from a light panel arranged to illuminate thehead/hear;

FIG. 14 shows a perspective view of a studio setup of FIG. 7 with thelight path illustrated from an overhead light panel arranged to providerim to the head of a subject;

FIG. 15 shows a plan of the studio setup of FIG. 7;

FIG. 16 shows a plan of the studio of a studio setup for a thirdlighting arrangement in accordance with another embodiment of theinvention, wherein the lighting arrangement comprises LED lamps;

FIG. 17 shows a perspective view of the studio of a studio setup for afourth lighting arrangement in accordance with another embodiment of theinvention, wherein the lighting arrangement comprises LED lamps;

FIG. 18 shows a plan of the studio setup of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, alight hood;

FIG. 20 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, an LEDarray with light baffles/hoods.

FIG. 21 shows a cross-sectional view of a studio setup for a lightingarrangement in accordance with another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 22 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, afloor light with an LED array with light masks; and

FIG. 23 shows, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, aluminaire comprising an LED array inside a chamber with reflectivesurfaces.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While the making and using of various embodiments of the presentinvention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated thatthe present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts thatare embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specificembodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways tomake and use the invention and do not delimit the scope of theinvention. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize numerousequivalents to the specific apparatus and methods described herein. Suchequivalents are considered to be within the scope of this invention andare covered by the claims.

In the drawings, not all reference numbers are included in each drawing,for the sake of clarity. In addition, positional terms such as “upper,”“lower,” “side,” “top,” “bottom,” etc. refer to the apparatus when inthe orientation shown in the drawing. A person of skill in the art willrecognize that the apparatus can assume different orientations when inuse.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a studio setup comprises a stage 1 on whicha subject, such as a person, is to be filmed by camera 2, such as a SonyHDW-750P, Sony HDW-900P or HDC-F950, with a standard lens (e.g. CanonHJ21 or 22) for projection as a Pepper's Ghost image. When being filmed,the person is illuminated by a lighting arrangement comprising frontlights 3 to 9 for illuminating a front of the person, rear lights 10 to14 for illuminating the rear of the person and side lights 15 and 16 forilluminating a side of the person.

The term “front of the person” refers to the side of the person facingtowards the camera and the term “rear of the person” refers to the sideof 20 the person facing away from the camera.

The following embodiment is described in which some of the lights may beincandescent or fluorescent lamps (e.g. tungsten lamps) but, as will beexplained in more detail later, it is advantageous for at least some ofthe lights to be LED lamps.

The front lights 3 to 9 comprise lights for illuminating differentsections of the person. In one embodiment, a pair of high front lights 3and 4 mounted on stands, for example 14 ft stands, for illuminating thehead and torso of the person and a pair of low front lights 5 and 6 forilluminating the legs and feet of the person. The front lights furthercomprise a high eye light 7 for illuminating the eyes of the person andtwo floor fill lights 8 and 9 for lifting shadows in clothing of theperson.

The front lights 3 to 7 are electronically controllable 2 kW profile(ellipsoidal) spotlights having a 22 to 25 mm lens and whose area ofillumination can be tightly controlled as required. In particular, thelights 3 to 7 may have appropriately controlled barn doors for confiningthe light beam as required and colours and brightness of the spotlights3 to 7 are selected based on the required colour temperature of thatsection of the person, such as required skin colour and colour of theclothes covering the upper torso. For example, for a person having verydark skin, the power of the front lights 3 and 4 may be 1.8 kW. For aperson having a very light skin colour the power of the front lights 3and 4 may be 1.3 kW. It will be understood that the front lights 3 and 4may be set at a suitable power level in between 1.3 kW and 1.8 kWdependent on how light or dark the person's skin colour/clothes. Thecolour of the eye light 7 may also depend on the skin colour of theperson.

The colour and brightness of low front lights 5 and 6 will depend on the20 colour of the clothes covering the legs and the shoes covering thefeet. The power of the low front lights 5 and 6 is also set between 1.3and 1.8 kW depending on how light/dark are the subject's clothes andshoes.

The floor fill lights 8 and 9 may be 650 W Fresnel lights having a 25brightness and colour dependent upon the clothes and skin tone of thesubject.

The front lights 3 to 7 are angled such that the majority of lightemitted by the front lights 3 to 7 is not directly reflected by the backwall 19 back to the subject. In this way, the reflected front light doesnot appear as undesirable back lighting of the subject.

The back lights 10 to 14 are electronically controllable 2 kW profile(ellipsoidal) spotlights having a 22 to 25 mm lens and comprise lightsfor illuminating different sections of the person. In this embodiment, apair of high back lights 10 and 11 mounted on stands, such as 14 ftstands, for illuminating the head and torso of the person and a pair oflow back lights 12 and 13 for illuminating the legs and feet of theperson. The front lights further comprise a high centre back light 14for illuminating the head and waist of the person.

LED lights may be used for the front, back and/or side lights. Forexample, 5600 K (Kelvin) LED lamps may be used. LED lamps consume farless electrical power than incandescent lamps, allowing the lamps to runoff battery power or comparatively smaller power supplies. The use ofbatteries reduces the number of cables in the studio and improves thesafety of the working environment. The LEDs also have a more stablecolour shift (i.e. the colour of the light emitted by the LED lamp doesnot substantially change with changes in brightness). Furthermore, thecool temperature operation of LED lamps negates any need for airconditioning and is less of a fire risk.

Since LED lamps run at much lower voltages than incandescent lamps and,generally, for illuminating a subject for filming the voltages willgenerally be in the range of a few volts to a few tens of volts). SinceLED lamps run at relatively low voltage and are solid state componentsthey are better suited to integration with control electronics. This isuseful for the current invention in which various technical advantagescan be achieved by control of the optical output of the front, side andrear lights. In particular LED lamps are capable of being switchedfaster than conventional incandescent lamps thereby allowing the lampsto be dimmed rapidly. The intensity of the light produced by LEDs canalso be controlled using pulse-width-modulation.

LED lamps, being solid state components, are generally robust and shockresistant (in contrast to fluorescent and incandescent bulbs). This isparticularly advantageous in studio environments and more so in portablestudio environments in which the lamps are subjected to the rigours ofregular transportation. LEDs can have a relatively long useful life withestimates of time to failure in the region of 35,000 to 50,000 hoursbeing reported (compared to about 1,000-2,000 hours for incandescentlight bulbs). LEDs have a slow failure, that is, they mostly fail bydimming over time, rather than the abrupt burn-out of incandescentbulbs. All of these properties mean that the number of spare lamps thatneed to be carried is much lower than would be required for anincandescent bulb lighting system. This an important advantage formobile studio environments in which space and weight capacity isrestricted.

The advantages described above for LEDs can be realised by using LEDlamps for some or all of the lamps in the lighting system. So, if say25% of the lamps where LEDs then there would be acorresponding/concomitant realization of the advantages provided byusing LED lamps (such as, for example, reduction in electrical powerrequired for the lighting system etc.). In other words, although thefull benefits of using LEDs are realised when substantially all of thelamps used in the lighting system are LED lamps, the same benefits, butto a lesser extent, can be realised when only a portion of the lamps inthe lighting system are used in the lighting system.

The brightness and colours of the back lights 10 to 14 will depend onthe skin, clothes and shoe colour of the person.

For example, for a person having very dark skin, the power of the backlights 10 and 11 may be set at 1.7 kW. For a person having very lightskin, the power of the back lights 10 and 11 may be set at 900 W. Thecolour of the centre back light 14 may also depend on the skin colour ofthe person.

The colour and brightness of low back lights 12 and 13 will depend onthe colour of the clothes covering the legs and the shoes covering thefeet. For dark clothes and shoes, the power of the low back lights 12and 13 will be higher than when the subject has light clothes and shoes.

The front and back lights 3 to 7 and 10 to 14 are placed approximately1.5-2 m from the subject.

Sidelights 15 and 16 are profile (ellipsoidal) spotlights forilluminating the side of the person and the brightness and colours ofthe side lights 15 and 16 will also depend on the skin, clothes and shoecolour of the person.

In one embodiment, the power levels of the side lights 15 and 16 areadjusted in response to movement of the person on the stage. The powerlevel of light 15, 16 is reduced as a person moves towards the light andincreased as a person moves away from the light.

The person may also illuminated by overhead fluorescent lights 17 and18, in this embodiment fluorescent light provided by KinoFlo LightingSystems, to illuminate the hair of the person These lights 17 and 18 areparticularly advantageous when the person has a dark hair colour. Aswill be described in more detail with respect to FIGS. 5 to 20,advantageously at least some of the overhead lighting 17 may be providedby LED lamps.

The studio is arranged to provide a plain backdrop, in particular, theback wall 19 provides a “blank” backdrop appropriate for the filming ofa Pepper's Ghost image, such as a black, blue, green or silver screen.

Such a back wall 19 reduces light reflected back to the subject. Ifpossible, the colours of the subject should be chosen so as not to matchthe colour of the backdrop. A blue/green screen backdrop is preferred asif a black backdrop is over lit, the clarity of the Pepper's Ghost imageproduced from the film may be compromised, particularly around theoutline where the Pepper's Ghost image can appear fuzzy, rendering thePepper's Ghost image less realistic.

If providing a blue/green backdrop is not possible, an alternative is toprovide a silver screen on back wall 19 and a circle of tightly formedblue LED lights around the camera lens which act to key out thebackground and isolate the subject in the foreground.

In use, the person is illuminated by the lights 2 to 18 when beingfilmed 20 by camera 2. A polarizing camera filter may be used to controlspecular reflections from either the floor of the subject.

The lighting arrangement is configured such that when the recorded filmof the person is projected in a system, such as that described inWO2007052005, the Pepper's Ghost image of the person appears morerounded and to have greater depth than images created from filming aperson using conventional three point lighting methods. In particular,the lights 3 to 18 are controlled such that the total brightness of theone or more front lights 3 to 9 is less than or approximately the sameas the total brightness of the one or more back lights (for example,less than or approximately the same as the total combined brightness ofthe one or more rear lights 10 to 14 together with the one or more sidelights 15 and 16). The total brightness of the front lights 3 to 9 maybe less than 150% of the total brightness of the back lights. That is,although the front lights can in some embodiments be brighter than theback lights, the front lights should not be too bright compared to theback lights (eg they should be less than 150% of the brightness of theback lights). The one or more side lights may illuminate the or eachside with a total brightness that is less than the total brightness ofthe one or more rear lights but more than the total brightness of thefront lights.

Overall the intention of the lighting is to be bright enough to capturedetail in a uniform manner without dark spots (otherwise the dark spotswill cause parts of the image to become invisible) or overly brightspots (image bleaching). The lighting should pick out differing texturesas well as cast shadow across the subject accentuating form and thepassage of light moving across the subject. Rear lighting should form arim around the subject outline to increase image sharpness.

The colour temperature of the Pepper's Ghost image of the subject shouldmatch as closely as possible the hue and colour temperature of similarskin tones of persons performing with the Pepper's Ghost image. Thedesired colour temperature is achieved through selecting the requiredcolours for the front, back and side lights, for example by colourcorrecting the lights with gels. It will be understood that in someembodiments such colour temperature matching is not required as thelighting at the location the Pepper's Ghost image is projected could bearranged to light the Pepper's Ghost image separately from any otherperson in the vicinity of the Pepper's Ghost image.

Other lighting effects at the location the Pepper's ghost image isprojected may also enhance the realistic appearance of the image, forexample up lighting a backdrop to a stage on which the Pepper's Ghost isprojected whilst making sure that none of these lights illuminate thearea behind the Pepper's Ghost image as this lighting may overpower thePepper's Ghost projection.

Now referring to FIG. 3, the camera is arranged relative to the personsuch that the image of the person captured by the camera extends acrossthe entire height of the image captured by the camera. Thisadvantageously maximizes the pixel count for the person, optimizing the10 resolution of the person in the image. In one embodiment, a size ofan unmasked plate shot of the camera (i.e. the size of the rectangularplane captured by the camera at the location of stage 1 andperpendicular to the eyeline of the camera) is approximately 2 m by 3.6m. In some embodiments the camera may be masked.

The camera is configured to have a shutter speed of between 1/60thsecond and 1/120th second. It has been found that these shutter speedssufficiently reduce motion blur without introducing stroboscopiceffects, which can occur at higher speeds. The camera is positioned suchthat an eye line of the camera substantially corresponds to the eye lineof an audience watching the Pepper's Ghost image and is at least 4 maway from the subject.

The captured film of the person is delivered to a Pepper's Ghostprojection system and projected by the system as a Pepper's Ghost imageand, in one embodiment, is projected such that the Pepper's Ghost imageof the person appears to an audience the same height as the person inreal-life. The film may be communicated via telecommunications to thelocation at which the film is projected as a Pepper's Ghost image. Inthis 30 way, the Pepper's Ghost image of the person can be broadcast“live” to the audience. Such a method could be used to allow a person tohave a “telepresence” at a location. This may allow the person toprovide a presentation to an audience from a remote location or tointeract with another party in the manner of a video conference.

Alternatively, the entire film may be delivered after filming has beencompleted, for example on a data carrier, such as an electronic signalor DVD.

Referring to FIG. 4, the lights 3 to 18 may be adjusted under thecontrol of a lighting control system 101. Each of the lights 3 to 18 mayhave control circuitry (not shown) associated therewith for adjustingthe brightness, colour and position of the light in response to controlsignals from lighting control 101. The device 101 comprising an inputdevice, in this case a mouse 102, keyboard 103 and touch screen 103′,for a user to input characteristics of a subject to be filmed into thesystem 101, outputs for sending control signals to the lights 3 to 18and a processor 104 arranged to determine from the inputs a requiredconfiguration for the lights 3 to 18 and send control signals to eachlight to cause the lights to adjust to the required configuration.

The system 101 comprises memory 105 having stored thereon a database oflighting configurations, each lighting configuration for a differentcombination of characteristics of a person to be filmed and projected asa Pepper's Ghost image. In use, the user inputs characteristics, such asskin colour, hair colour and colour of the subject's clothes and shoes,into the system 101 and, in response, the processor 104 retrieves frommemory 105 the lighting configuration that corresponds to thatcombination of selected characteristics. The processor 104 then sendsignals to the lights 3 to 18 to cause the lights 3 to 18 to adjust tothe retrieved configuration.

The system 101 may comprise a display of the touch-screen 103′ thatdisplays an image representing a person and the user can select, with aninput device 102, 103, 103′ different sections of the person andidentify the colour of the selected section of the person. The processor104 5 receives inputs on the colour of each section and searches therequired configurations stored in memory 105 based on the inputs to finda configuration suitable for the characteristics of the person. Onfinding a suitable configuration, the processor 104 sends controlsignals to the lights 3 to 18 to cause the lights 3 to 18 to adjust tothe configuration.

In one embodiment, the different sections comprise vertical sections ofthe person, for example, when the subject is a person, five verticalsections, hair, head, torso, legs and feet. For practical reasons, suchas the available equipment and time it may not be possible to illuminatethese sections and another number of vertical sections may be used, forexample three vertical sections, head, torso and legs/feet. Furthermore,if the person is not a person but is another object, such as an animal,or the person is wearing clothes or equipment that results in the hair,head, torso, legs and/or feet being of similar colours, then othersections may be appropriate. In one embodiment, left and right sectionsmay be used. For a person that is moving, this may require the lights totrack the person across a stage.

In this way, the control system can automatically configure the lightsas required by the characteristics of the subject to be filmed, savingtime and reducing the need for an expert lighting technician.

The required configurations are determined empirically and then storedin memory.

The system 101 may also be connected by a data link 106, such as atelecommunications link, to a device 107 at a location that the film ofthe subject is being projected as a Pepper's Ghost image. Device 107provides feedback to system 101 based on the lighting environment at thelocation the Pepper's Ghost image is being projected. The device 107 mayprovide feedback dependent on inputs into the device 107, for exampledevice 107 may itself be a system for controlling lights at the locationthe Pepper's Ghost image is projected and may provide feedback data tosystem 101 on the programmed lighting configuration or/and the device107 may be connected with one or more sensors 108, for example one ormore photodetectors, for sensing the lighting environment at thelocation the Pepper's Ghost image is projected and send data to device101 on the detected lighting environment.

In response to receiving feedback/data from the device 107, theprocessor 104 controls the lighting configuration of lights 3 to 18, atleast in some embodiments, to match the lighting environment or at leastaspects of the lighting environment at the location the Pepper's Ghostin projected. In this way, the realism of the Pepper's Ghost is enhancedas the illumination on the subject being filmed matches illumination thesubject would receive if he actually was at the location the Pepper'sGhost image is projected.

As well as trying to match the lighting effects at the location thePepper's Ghost image is being projected, the processor 104 may alsocontrol the lights to achieve a required colour temperature based on theobjects/people on a stage on which the Pepper's Ghost image isprojected. Furthermore, the processor 104 may control lights 3 to 18based on feedback from device 107 to achieve special effects, such asincreased/decreased transparency of the Pepper's Ghost image.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the abovedescribed lighting arrangement but other combinations of front, rear andside lights may be used. In one embodiment, the front and back lightscomprise a very large array of lights that provide a fine granularity ofcontrol of the illumination across stage 1.

It will be understood that in one embodiment, the subject is a member ofan audience. In such a situation, it may not be possible to provide alighting arrangement as described above and front and back lighting maybe provided in another manner, for example, spotlights suspended ontrusses to provide illumination from a plurality of points.

LED lights may be used for the front, rear and/or side lights. Forexample, 5600 kW LED lamps may be used. LED lamps consume far less powerthan incandescent lamps, allowing the lamps to run off battery power,and have a more stable colour shift (i.e. the colour of the lightemitted by the LED lamp does not substantially change with changes inbrightness). Furthermore, the cool temperature operation of LED lampsnegates any need for air conditioning and presents less of a fire risk.

LED's, being solid state electronic components and being relativelysmall in comparison to other types of lighting, are particularly wellsuited to being incorporated into lighting arrays. For example a 2-Darray of LEDs may be used to from a panel, which may or may not be aplanar panel.

Due to the small size of each individual LED in such an array thegranularity of the array can be improved in comparison to arrays ofother types of lamps.

Optimally the Telepresence filming room or Booth is desired to be of avariety of sizes, typically as small as a room 5 meters long by 3 meterswide up to studio stage arrangements as large as 20 meters wide. It willbe understood in large stage arrangements or where the image size issubstantially wider than 6 meters and where the studio has sufficientdepth of maybe 20 meters or greater, the use of conventional tungstenlighting provides satisfactory results FIGS. 5 to 20 show variouslighting plans according to various embodiments of the invention inwhich LED lamps are used to provide a significant illumination of asubject.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a lighting plan in which, for example, the distancefrom the focal plane of the camera to the subject 400 is approximately18 feet (5.5 metres). Such a lighting plan can be realised as aTelepresence booth that can accommodate approximately five standingpersons within the subject area. Such design and configuration may be“scaled” up or down depending on the number of persons or subject areasize that is desired.

The distance between the camera and the subject is determined by thelens focal length and the subject. In this instance in order to capturea full screen vertically standing person that has the ability to extendtheir arms freely in the frame without falling out of the frame a 40 mm(35 mm format) Lens is used. Lenses in this range fall within the“normal” range of a subjective Point of View (“P.O.V.”). Assuming astage riser of 1 foot (0.3 metres) high is being used to film thesubject placing the Lens approximately 2 feet (0.6 metres) off theground would allow the point of view of the viewer to be within thenormal viewing range for the reflected Telepresence image to appearnatural on a slightly raised stage. The camera may be able to beadjusted vertically to attain a more “neutral” angle of view for certainapplications or viewing situations.

Directly behind the subject is a non-reflecting, preferably lightabsorbing material or configuration. A black velvet curtain has beenproven in the photographic industry to be used for such purposes. ThisCurtain should have a dimension of approximately 15 feet (4.6 metres)across and 10 feet high (3 metres).

Alternatively a “light trap” may be able to accomplish an even lessreflective background. Such device could be concave or have louvers atsuch an angle that allow “spill” light to pass through the louvers andbe “trapped” within a non-reflective area while obscuring the camera'sview with the surface of the louver angled perpendicular to the camera sangle of inclination.

The blackness of a black background (e.g. a black velvet curtain) behinda subject can appear reduced due to lighting effects. That is thebackground can appear grey. A technique known as “crushing the black”can reduce this effect. A method to reduce the intensity of light on thebackground is to increase the distance between the front lights and thebackground, either by moving the front lights away from the backgroundor vice-versa. Alternatively, the camera used to film the subject couldbe arranged to process light sources below a certain threshold value asbeing black. For example if the light reflected off a back screen isless than one candela, then the camera may process this as being black.

It will be understood that the lights in the lighting arrangement arechosen such that the drop-off distance of the light from the frontlights is less than a distance between the front lights and thebackground behind the subject (e.g. a back screen or a back curtain).This prevents light from the front lights being incident on the backscreen at such a high intensity that the contrast between the subjectand the back screen is reduced.

A platform (riser) with the dimensions of approx 4×12 feet (1.2×3.7metres) is desirable of approximately 1 foot (0.3 meters) high. Thisallows for several people to be captured with movement and isolates thefeet against the black velvet better than a floor without a riser would.This riser generally painted black also serves to mitigate the issue ofseeing the background where the velvet or “Knock out” curtain meets thefloor. It may be desirable in some situations that the surface of theriser be reflective or semi-reflective to some degree. For instance aBlack “Marlite” or “TV Tile” riser may give some subtle reflections offeet etc. that may help the illusion that the virtual projected image is“standing” on the physical stage it is being projected in proximity of.

A number of lighting configurations will now be described to addresscircumstances pertinent to achieving the most realistic virtual image ofa filmed subject using most mainstream film shooting conditions.

The lighting plan, illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, shows the lightingarrangement for a stage up to 3 metres wide. Such a stage could bepositioned in a conventional 30 foot/40 foot (9/12 metres) truckcontainer by adding other sound recording and filming equipment. Such atruck container would make a perfectly suitable Outside Broadcast truck.In the embodiment illustrated a number of different LED Panels “daylightflood instruments” are positioned around the filming subject to form acuboid of light.

Various different types of LED Panel units may be used. Firstly is a LED30 Flood Panel, this kind of light emits a wider plane of illuminationand is used to provide general lighting levels suitable to an HD filmingenvironment. The next LED Panel unit that may be used is a LED Spotlight. This provides a greater intensity of illumination in a morefocused light path. A third kind of light is a Light mini panel which isdesigned to illuminate smaller more focused areas of subject matter,such as the subject's hair or shoes.

According to the lighting plan, LED Flood Panel 101A is lightingprimarily the upper part of the body and subject's face with a generalflood of light, the intensity and brightness of LED Panel 101A is set toprovide this sufficient illumination to highlight the film subjectwhilst minimizing light bleed or spill along the back wall. LED PanelSpots 102A and 102B are used for focused illumination of the subject'sdarker features such as eye sockets, facial hair and darkerclothing/shoes where necessary. Light panels 102A and 102B have asemi-opaque diffusion panel immediately in front of the LED array toslightly soften the more brittle beam of the spot light. LED Mini Panel103A and 103B will maintain the light intensity balance of the lowerpart of the subjects body (trousers, shoes and stage riser) allowing thefilm subject to move left and right while maintaining the correctintensity of light. LED Flood Panels 104A and 104B illuminate frombehind the filmed subject a general area up to the subject's shoulderscreating a rim light effect to sharpen the outline of the subject'sbody. LED Flood Panels 105A and 1058 offer similar lighting effects of104A and 1048 but for the upper part of the body and the head/hair ofthe filmed subject. The general impact of 104A, 104B, 105A and 105B addthe illusion of luminosity from behind that audiences typically viewwhen watching subjects perform on a live stage, such as found in atheatre or conference centre. The LED Mini Panel 106A provides rim lightto add further sharpness and definition to the filming subjects head. Itshould be noted that this light may only be used where the height of thestudio is sufficient to allow the placement of this light outside theframe of the camera (typically when the ceiling height is greater than 3meters).

Referring to FIG. 6, the key in this Figure shows graphics whichrepresent a Lite Flood Panel 210, a Lite Spot panel 211, and a Lite miniPanel 212. Illumination of the subject 400 to be filmed is provided byvarious lights including lights that may be attached to the ceiling 201and floor lights 202 to provide reverse key lighting for highlightingthe hair. Low level lighting 204, for example floor lights, can providehighlighting for, say, the shoes of a subject. Front fill spotlights 206attached to, say, the ceiling can be used to highlight a subject and tominimize light spill on the backdrop. Diffuse lighting can be providedby lights on floor stands 205, for example 1 m high floor stands.

According to the lighting plan, illustrated in FIGS. 7-16, LED FloodPanels 107A and 107B provide overhead lighting to illuminate filmsubjects of darker skin complexion or dark hair. There is new technologybeing developed that angles the LED's on the Panel, this new embodimentof the “LED Panel” allows the units be mounted in a more flat orparallel fashion to the room's walls and ceilings. This could beparticularly useful in a booth constructed so that the illuminationdevices are flush fastened to the walls or built in to the structure. Insome scenarios it may be advantageous to add some overhead or top lightto fill the horizontal areas of the subject. This can also lower thecontrast a bit when it is desirous to place the subject realistically isa “daylight” or other more real and less theatrical looking environment.Almost as if introducing “ambient Skylight”. Given that the distancefrom the subject when standing to the overhead light is only a few feet(approx. 10′) it is advantageous to use a shallow profile cools lightthat has good “spread”. As an alternative to the LED Flood Panels, 2Kino Flo 4×2's would also be ideal with 216 diffusion.

Referring to FIG. 15, ceiling lights 208 are illustrated that may beused to highlight a person who has dark hair. The other lightsillustrated in this Figure may be the same or similar to at least someof the lights illustrated in FIG. 6 and take like reference numerals.

Referring to FIG. 16, ceiling lights 208 a above the subject are againillustrated that may be used to highlight a person who has dark hair.Additional ceiling lights are also illustrated that are in front of thesubject (i.e. camera side) and either in line with the subject or to theside of the subject (labelled 208 b and 208 c respectively). The otherlights illustrated in this Figure may be the same or similar to at leastsome of the lights illustrated in FIG. 6 and take like referencenumerals.

FIGS. 17 and 18 illustrate a lighting plan which is a basicconfiguration which enables a reasonable virtual image to appear. Atotal of just six LED Panels are used, four LED Flood Panel and two LEDMini Panels. The Flood Panels are all fitted with diffusion screens tospread a soft edged light directionally into the cuboid which for thepurposes of this embodiment of the invention extends across the entirewidth and depth of the riser to the maximum height required for imagecapture of the filmed subject (generally no more than 2.2 metres for ahuman being).

At a height approximately 2 feet (0.6 metres) above the eye line of thesubject (8 feet/2.4 metres) and angled down slightly to illuminate thefull figure two I×1 LED Panels placed downstage of the subject can coverthe “action area” of the platform. Positioned in a horizontal side byeach array that cascades approximately on the line from the camera tothe platform edge.

Use of one of the lighter diffusion elements that are provided (with theLED Panels I×1 kit) to be used in the diffusion element holder creates aflattering degree of softness of this light and helps to make the fieldof illumination more even. FIG. 18 illustrates lights fitted withdiffusers which may, for example, be placed on floor stands (e.g. 1.5 mfloor stands).

The choice of “daylight” (approx. 5500 degrees Kelvin) optimizes theresponse from many of today's High Definition Camera Systems. A slightlywarming gel such as the ¼ CTO gel provided for use with the diffusionholder can simultaneously be used with the diffusion elements to adjustthe quality (colour temperature) of the light for a pleasing slightlywarm flesh rendition.

A further advantage of lighting with a “Daylight” source is thatcontamination or “spill” that may come from windows in close proximityto the shooting environment would be less obtrusive allowing thislighting arrangement to work effectively in a smaller space such as anoffice or Outside Broadcast truck.

Furthermore the properties of this LED based lighting solution couldallow for the Telepresence booth to be incorporated in a Tent likestructure, an inflatable structure or other novel (possibly portable)integrated “Image Capture/Image Display” environment.

The “Fill” (opposite from the Key) or “shadow” side of the subject canbe illuminated in a similar fashion to the “Key side” utilizing fewerlights (2) and heavier diffusion thus adding a softer and comparativelydimmer “Fill” to the shadow side of the subject. Built in Dimmersincorporated in the LED Panels 1×I's (or similar instruments) allowminute adjustment for just the right level of Fill for the subject. Ofcourse the Key Level can be equally controlled. At these distances thelight level achieved is consistent with the optimal performance of thedesired Lenses. This Level is approximately a T2.8-T4 at 320 ASA.

To “separate” the subject from the background the LED Panels I×I's canbe utilized as “Back light” and perhaps positioned as a bit of sidelightas well.

To attain good detail from the background and help the dimensionalappearance of the subject it is optimal to illuminate the hair/headshoulders, torso and extremities of the subject from behind the subject.In this scenario it may be optimal to utilize two LED Panel 1×I's justdown stage (approximately a foot) of the Black curtain. If one of theLight Panels (1×1 flood) is positioned near the end of the (15′) curtainflush to the ceiling or top of the curtain height and another LED panelI×1 is positioned half way to the centre of the subject (3½″/1.0 metres)these lights when angled in unison can illuminate the subject(s) in apleasing and effective side/backlight position. By using another pair ofthe same lighting instruments in the same configuration on the otherside full coverage of this important illumination is attained on thesubject.

The black velvet curtain can be positioned quite close to the subject(approximately 9′/2.7 metres upstage) without being significantlyilluminated due to the directionality and angle of this lightingscenario and the properties of the lights specified. It may be desirableto add a “flag” to “Top” or “Side” control some of the emitted light offthe background. The use of a honeycombed “egg crate (s)” may also bedesirable in some situations to control the directionality/spill of thelight however such (LED Panels) instruments as described perform theirfunction well as described.

The instant dim ability with nominal colour change on these LED basedlights combined with the fast diffusion and colour gel slot systemallows the Director of Photography or Lighting Technician to quickly andeasily adjust the quality, quantity and colour of the light to optimizethe results with various subjects. Improvements are being made to LEDPanels which may incorporate LED's of different angle of view, colourtemperature, and angle, these may be particularly useful in “spotting”or “warming” various subjects particularly in the backlight position.This lighting scenario when installed allows for optimal image capturefor a myriad of subjects with in this space. It forms a basic “look”that will produce good results with no changes for almost every subject.The ability to add dramatic effect, soften and warm flesh tone, increaseor decrease key, fill or backlight etc. to tailor the light for thespecific subject or desired result can all be accomplished in seconds.The integrated control designed into a high output, low power consuming,long lamp life, completely cool, high quality, and impressive CRI makesthese luminaries ideal for this application.

LED lamps generally tend to produce divergent light which causes light ospill from the sides of the lamp. To reduce this light spill, accordingto an embodiment of the invention, a hood or baffle may be used todirect light produced from an LED lamp. An example of a hood 300 isillustrated in FIG. 19 (a) and FIG. 19 (b). The hood 300 illustrated isfrustoconical although the hood 300 may take other shapes (e.g.cylindrical). Generally the hood 300 has a first end 301 with a firstaperture which is, in use, arranged to receiving light from the LED anda second end 302 with a second aperture arranged to allow said receivedlight to escape the hood 300. In some embodiments, e.g. when the hood300 has a frustoconical shape, the second aperture is smaller than thefirst aperture

As illustrated in FIG. 20, a hood 300 or an array of hoods may bearranged relative to the light outputs of an array of LEDs 310. One ofthe LEDs 320 a is illustrated without a hood 300 together with aschematic representation of the light output 340 of this LED. The lightoutput 342 is also schematically illustrated for an LED 320 b which hasa hood 300 fitted. Generally, there is a one to-one correspondencebetween the hoods and the LEDs such that each LED has its own hood 300.Such an arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 19. In some embodiments ahood 300 or an array of hoods is arranged to be retrofitted to an LED oran array of LEDs. The hood 300 may be made substantially of plastic,rubber or other light absorbing material or the hood 300 may be made ofanother type of material with the inner surface of the hood 300 (uponwhich the light from the LED is incident) is substantially plastic,rubber or other light absorbing material.

Also illustrated in FIG. 20 is a beam collimator 330 which comprises afirst array of apertures 332 on the LED side of the beam collimator 330and a second array 334 of apertures on the subject side of thecollimator 330. One or both of the arrays of apertures 332 and 334 maybe slideable (or otherwise translatable) relative to each other to aidalignment. Similarly, the beam collimator 330 may be slideable withrespect to the array of LEDs 310. By sliding/translating either or bothof the arrays, or by translating the beam collimator 330 with respect tothe arrays of LEDs, the effective aperture presented to the beamsproduced by the array can be controlled. In this way the size of thebeam directed to the subject can also be controlled and also the lightattenuated.

When the two arrays of apertures 332 and 334 are brought into alignmentwith each other, and the array of LEDs 310, the light on the subjectside of the collimator is substantially collimated.

A further embodiment is shown in FIGS. 21 and 22. The embodiments shownin FIGS. 21 and 22 differ from that of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1to 3 in that the embodiment shown in FIGS. 21 and 22 includes floorlights 421. Features of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 21 and 22 whichare the same or similar as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 will not bedescribed further and have been given the same reference numerals but inthe series 400.

The floor lights 421 are located in the stage 401 directly below theperson being filmed by camera 402. The floor lights are arranged suchthat the emitted light is directed upwardly approximatelyperpendicularly from the stage 401 floor such that the light emitted bythe floor lights 421 is incident on the underside of the person. Thefloor lights 421 illuminate areas of the person which would otherwisenot be illuminated by either the front lights 403 to 409, rear lights410 to 414, side lights 415 to 416 or overhead lights 417 to 418. Forexample, the underside of the person's feet may be illuminated by thefloor lights 421.

The upwardly direction of the light emitted by the floor lights 421prevents light from the floor lights 421 falling on the camera 402. Iflight from the floor lights 421 were to fall on the camera 402 the floorlights 421 may appear in the projected image, which would be detrimentalto the illusion.

An enlarged image of the floor lights 421 is shown in FIG. 22. The floorlights 421 comprise an array of LEDs 423 in a housing enclosure 425. Anarray of masks 427 are attached to the light emitting ends of the LEDs423. The masks 427 are made from plastic, rubber or any other lightabsorbing material and have a frustro conical shape such that the lightis collimated by the masks 427 into a beam which is substantiallyparallel and directed perpendicular to the light emitting surface of theLEDs. The collimating effect of the masks 427 is shown by the dottedlines 429 in FIG. 22 which represent the light emitted by the floorlight 421.

In other embodiments the floor lights 421 may comprise a number ofdifferent kinds of lights. For example, the floor lights 421 may be spotlights located below the top of the stage 401 floor.

FIG. 23 shows a schematic drawing of a luminaire 501 which may be usedto illuminate a subject. For example the luminaire 501 may be used forfront lights, rear lights, side lights, overhead lights or floor lightsas shown in FIG. 1 to 2 or 5 to FIGS. 5 to 18. The luminaire 501comprise an array of LEDs 503 arranged inside a housing chamber 505comprising a back reflective surface 507 opposite to an output surface509 and two side reflective surfaces 511. The LEDs 503 are attached tothe inside of the output surface 509 such that the LEDs 503 emit lightinside the chamber 505 away from the output surface 509 towards eitherthe back reflective surface 507 or one of the side reflective surfaces511. The output surface 509 has a number of gaps 513 such that the lightreflected off the back reflective surface 507 or side reflectivesurfaces 511 exits the chamber 505 via the gaps 513. The backs of theLEDs 503 are opaque such that light is blocked from leaving theluminaire 501 without being reflected by the back reflective surface 507or one of the side reflective surfaces 511. This creates a light outputfrom the luminaire 501 which is approximately uniform over the angles inwhich lights exits through the gaps 513 in the output surface 509.

Aspects and embodiments of the invention herein described as method,apparatus, lighting arrangements, lighting controls, and lightingsystems are interchangeable. For example, an embodiment or aspect of theinvention described as a method can also be implemented as an apparatus(and vice versa) and is hereby taken to be disclosed as such. Similarlyan embodiment or aspect of the invention described as a lighting controlor lighting arrangement can also be implemented as part of a lightingsystem. Therefore disclosures of embodiment or aspect of the inventionin any one particular category should be taken to be also disclosed inthe other categories.

Some aspects and embodiments of the invention are complimentary and havea synergistic effect and some aspects embodiments can be realized eitheralone or in combination with other embodiments. For example the use ofLEDs in a lighting arrangement has its own advantages whilst the controlof configuring a lighting arrangement in response to various inputs hasits own, generally different advantages. The combination of LED lightingand lighting control has further, synergistic, advantages because thequick response time, small size, and solid state integration availablefrom LED lighting means that reliable control and real-time/live controlare readily achieved.

Thus, although there have been described particular embodiments of thepresent invention of a new and useful METHOD AND SYSTEM OF FILMING, itis not intended that such references be construed as limitations uponthe scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of filming a subject to produce filmsuitable for projecting in a manner that creates a full bodied Pepper'sGhost of the subject, the method comprising: filming a subject in frontof a black, blue, or green back screen under a lighting arrangement toacquire images of the subject, the lighting arrangement having one ormore first lights for illuminating a front of the subject, wherein thefirst lights have a drop-off distance such that the majority of lightemitted by the first lights is not reflected by the back screen back tothe subject or are angled such that the majority of light emitted by thefirst lights is not reflected by the back screen back to the subject,one or more second lights for illuminating the rear and/or side of thesubject and operable to sharpen an outline of the subject, and one ormore third lights for illuminating the feet of the subject; wherein thecamera used to film the subject is stationary, the subject is a movingsubject and the lighting arrangement is arranged to produce shadows inthe subject's clothing and cause shadows to move across the subject asthe subject moves under the lighting arrangement; and wherein a totalbrightness of the one or more first lights, as measured at the subject,is less than or approximately the same as a total brightness of the oneor more second lights.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the lightingarrangement is arranged to illuminate a cuboid volume such that, whenthe subject moves horizontally within the cuboid volume, a nature of theillumination on the subject remains substantially the same.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the subject is filmed on a riser having aheight and the subject is filmed with the camera having a lens that ispositionable at a height approximately 1 foot higher than the height ofthe riser, the camera being vertically adjustable in an upward directionto obtain a more neutral view of the subject.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the subject is filmed in a studio having a depth between 5meters long by 3 meters wide and upto 20 meters long by 6 meters wide.5. The method of claim 1, wherein the subject is filmed on a reflectiveor semi reflective riser.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the subjectis filmed in front of a light-absorbing back, and wherein a camera usedto film the subject or the film to be presented is arranged to processlight sources having an intensity of below a threshold value as beingblack.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein: the total brightness of theone or more front lights, as measured at the subject, is less than orapproximately the same as total brightness of the one or more backlights, as measured at the subject; and/or a ratio of the totalbrightness, as measured at the subject, of the back lights to the totalbrightness of the front lights, as measured at the subject, is greaterthan 2:3; and/or the total brightness of the front lights is less than150% of the total brightness of the back lights.
 8. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the one or more front lights and the one or morerear and/or side lights each comprises different lamps for illuminatingdifferent sections of the subject, wherein the different sectionscomprise vertical sections of the subject.
 9. The method according toclaim 8, wherein the one or more front lights comprise a profilespotlight for illuminating a head of the subject, a profile spotlightfor illuminating the torso of the subject, and a profile spotlight forilluminating legs and feet of the subject, and the one or more backlights comprise a profile spotlight for illuminating a head of thesubject, a profile spotlight for illuminating the torso of the subject,a profile spotlight for illuminating legs and optionally feet of thesubject.
 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the lightingarrangement further comprises an overhead light positioned substantiallydirectly above the subject, the one or more front lights furthercomprise a profile spotlight for illuminating the eyes of the subjectand a fill lamp for illuminating the subject from below and producingshadows in the clothing of the subject.
 11. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the lighting arrangement is arranged to illuminateundersides of the subject's feet so that the base of the subject's feetare captured and displayed on the projected film.
 12. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the lights are controlled to matchlighting effects for the subject being filmed to lighting effects at alocation of the projected Pepper's Ghost image.
 13. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the lights are controlled to create a colortemperature for the subject being filmed that substantially matches thecolor temperature of person/objects at the location of the projectedPepper's Ghost image.
 14. The method according to claim 1, whereinfilming the subject comprises filming the subject with a camerapositioned such that an eye-line of the camera substantially correspondsto an eye-line of an audience watching the Pepper's Ghost image and isat least 4 meters away from the subject.
 15. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising: projecting the images of the subjectthrough a semitransparent screen positioned at an angle to the projectedfilm and an audience line-of-sight such that film images are visible tothe audience as a pepper's ghost superimposed on a backdrop to thescreen such that the Pepper's Ghost image of the subject appears at thesame height as the subject in real-life.
 16. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising: projecting the images of the subject onto asemitransparent screen placed at 45 degrees to a direction of lightemitted by the projector such that the Pepper's Ghost image of thesubject appears at the same height as the subject in real-life.
 17. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the lighting arrangement has aluminaire comprising an array of LEDs inside a housing chamber having aback reflecting surface opposite an output surface with at least onegap, and two side reflective surfaces, wherein the LEDs are attached toan inside of the output surface such that light emitted by the LEDs isdirected away from the output surface towards either the back reflectivesurface or the one of the side reflective surfaces, wherefrom the lightis reflected toward the output surface and emitted from the chamber viathe at least one gap.
 18. A real time streaming telepresence system,comprising: an image source arranged to project a full bodied humanimage directly towards a semitransparent screen for receiving the fullbodied human image projected by the image source and generating anddirecting a partially reflected full bodied human image toward anaudience, the partially reflected human image being perceived by theaudience as a virtual life size full bodied human image or hologram on astage; wherein the full body human image projected by the image sourceis filmed using a filming studio including a black, blue, or green backscreen positioned behind a subject area in which the subject moves or ispositioned during filming, and a lighting arrangement having one of morefirst lights for illuminating a front of the subject when viewed from acamera used to film the subject, wherein the first lights have adrop-off distance such that the majority of light emitted by the firstlights is not reflected by the back screen back to the subject or areangled such that the majority of light emitted by the first lights isnot reflected by the back screen back to the subject, and one or moresecond lights for illuminating the rear and/or side of the subject andoperable to sharpen the outline of the subject, the total intensity ofthe one or more second lights being greater than the total intensity ofthe one or more first lights as measured at the subject at all pointswithin the subject area, and one or more third lights for illuminatingthe feet of the subject, wherein the camera used to film the subject isstationary, the subject is a moving subject, and wherein the lightingarrangement is arranged to produce shadows in the subject's clothing andcause shadows to move across the subject as the subject moves under thelighting arrangement, and wherein a total brightness of the one or morefirst lights, as measured at the subject, is less than or approximatelythe same as a total brightness of the one or more second lights.
 19. Asystem according to claim 18, wherein the image source projects directlytowards the semitransparent screen from above the stage or below thestage.
 21. A real time streaming telepresence system, comprising: asemi-transparent screen configured with a reflective front or rearprojection screen and amplified light source to display video of lifesize human images from the amplified light source in a ‘peppers ghost’arrangement; wherein the life size human image generated by theamplified light source is filmed using filming studio including a black,blue, or green back screen under an LED lighting arrangement having oneof more first lights for illuminating a front of the subject, whereinthe first lights have a drop-off distance such that the majority oflight emitted by the first lights is not reflected by the back screenback to the subject or are angled such that the majority of lightemitted by the first lights is not reflected by the back screen back tothe subject, and one or more second lights for illuminating the rearand/or side of the subject and operable to sharpen the outline of thesubject, and one or more third lights for illuminating the feet of thesubject, wherein a camera used to film the subject is stationary, thesubject is a moving subject, and wherein the lighting arrangement isarranged to produce shadows in the subject's clothing and cause shadowsto move across the subject as the subject moves under the lightingarrangement, wherein a total brightness of the one or more first lights,as measured at the subject, is less than or approximately the same as atotal brightness of the one or more second lights.